25 Tools Real Service Owners Cant Live Without

Dan Westmoreland

25 Tools Real Service Owners Cant Live Without

Dan Westmoreland, Marketing Campaigns ManagerMarch 02, 2018

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25 tools real service owners can’t live without

The results are in. Deputy surveyed hundreds of services owners and managers with this question: “What is one tool (service, software, technology, app, educational resource/website, etc.) that you can’t live without, and why?”

Wunderlist is a cloud-based task management application. It allows users to manage their tasks from a smartphone, tablet, computer and smartwatch. No matter what you’re planning, how big or small the task may be, Wunderlist makes it super easy to get stuff done.

“Wunderlist; keeps me and my management staff up to date on what takes need to be done and what’s been accomplished.” -Deshun Simmons, Owner, Savory Kernels (a 1 year business)

G Suite is a brand of cloud computing, productivity and collaboration tools, software and products developed by Google. G Suite comprises Gmail, Hangouts, Calendar, and Google+ for communication; Drive for storage; Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, and Sites for collaboration; and, depending on the plan, an Admin panel and Vault for managing users and the services.

“G Suite, it allows us to work from anywhere and to collaborate on projects very efficiently.”-Cyril Arnaud, CEO, Ariolix (a 9 year business)

With Slack’s instant messaging platform, you can organize your team’s conversations into separate private or public channels or send a direct message. The app also makes it easy to drag, drop and share images, PDFs and other files right in the chat. It automatically indexes and archives any message, notification or file, and there’s no limit to how many users your business can add.

Google Drive is a file storage and synchronization service developed by Google. It allows users to store files on their servers, synchronize files across devices, and share files. This allows you to collaborate safely and easily with clients or employees anywhere.

“We use Google for everything from email to documents to calendar. It’s free and has compatibility with so many other apps and services. Plus most of our employees already use it, so it’s easy for them to plug into, and understand with little training.”-Matt Megyesi, Owner/Manager, Mutiny Information Cafe (a 4 year business)

Instagram is a social networking app made for sharing photos and videos from a smartphone. Instagram can be a great way to promote your brand, connect the physical world with the online world and launch a new product or service.

Facebook is becoming a staple part of almost every social media strategy. Facebook Business gives you the latest news, advertising tips, best practices and case studies for using Facebook to meet your business goals.

Nextdoor is the free, private social network for you, your neighbors and your community. It’s the easiest way to connect and talk with your neighbors about the things that matter in your neighborhood. Nextdoor is the best way to stay informed about what’s going on in your neighborhood—whether it’s finding a last-minute babysitter, planning a local event, or sharing safety tips.

“The Nextdoor app. is a great way to let locals know about your business whether it’s online or brick and mortar.” -Lori Churchill, Co-Owner, Alpha Coffee (a 6.5 year business)

The Amazon Kindle is a series of e-readers designed and marketed by Amazon. Amazon Kindle devices enable users to browse, buy, download, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines and other digital media via wireless networking to the Kindle Store.

“Kindle. Reading and researching leadership practices is important development for you. You can’t just work all the time. You need to be learning and curious.”-Nick Halley, Manager, Amazon (a 30 year business)

Xero is an accounting app that lets you track businesses expenses and accounting with intuitive mobile apps and web interfaces for point-of-sale, e-commerce, time-tracking, and more. Seamlessly connect Xero and Deputy via the “Add a company” setting in Deputy. For more information, visit the Deputy help portal.

Gusto is a company that provides a cloud-based payroll, benefits, and human resource management solution for businesses based in the United States. Sync Deputy to Gusto, and save hours in payroll processing time each week.

“Aside from Deputy, Gusto has been an immense time saver and added selling point for talent by offering additional benefits such as direct deposit easily.”-Andrew Wallace, CEO, PortoSpire (a 4 year business)

“Gusto, it is the most wonderful payroll tool.”-James Williams, COO, Bloom Consulting (a 5 year business)

QuickBooks is an accounting software package developed and marketed by Intuit. QuickBooks automates many aspects of managing your business by calculating sales tax, tracking products and automatically updating transactions in your register, customer and vendor areas.

“QuickBooks. It’s an easy to use accounting software and is well known for bookkeepers making it easy to outsource that position.”-Reba Martin, Bookkeeper, Springs Road Gun Club (a 10 year business)

Freshbooks is a popular online accounting app, redesigned to make billing and accounting easy for anyone. Send invoices, track expenses and time spent on projects, and manage your clients all in one place.

Vend is cloud-based point-of-sale and retail management software that lets retailers run their business in-store, online, and via mobile.

“We can’t live without Vend POS. It’s an amazing program that has helped us grow sales and target customers. Along with Deputy integration we are now so on-point with staffing it’s an ideal combination.”-Teri-Jo Collina, Partner, G Facey Clothing (a 25 year business)

“Vend, switched almost 2 years ago and it’s been a great change.”-Teresa O’Day, Owner, Proper (a 7 year business)

“POS. It is mandatory in retail to use a POS system. It’s an efficient way to keep track of how well your business is doing. I can’t do business without POS because I would have to hire 10 people to give me the information that system does with one click.”-Neil Sinclair, CEO, Smokehead Shop (a 13 Year Business)

Revel Systems is a feature-rich business platform transforming the way business is done by integrating all operations and customer channels, driven by the Point of Sale, into a single dashboard. Designed to maximize security, stability, ease of use, and service delivery, Revel’s ecosystem replaces bulky, expensive legacy solutions with a quick, intuitive iOS-based POS platform that combines cloud-based technology and the mobility of the iPad.

“Revel POS… It allows me to track every sale with helpful metrics to help us grow. Deputy integrates to create a seamless experience for labor statistics and schedule forecasting.”-Avery Ward, CTO, Little Italy Pizza (a 38 year business)

WhizBang! Retail Training helps retailers of all sizes build great stores. Founded in 1999 by retail experts Bob Negen and Susan Negen, they offer products and services designed to fit the needs of brand new retailers as well as seasoned owners and multi-store chains.

This training program is an investment to help entrepreneurs create jobs and economic opportunity by providing greater access to education, capital and business support services. To date, the program has served over 6,700 small business owners across all 50 states, and has resulted in immediate and sustained business growth for the alumni of the program.

Sandler Training is the global leader in sales training, management training, and corporate training. Sandler also provides business consulting, business coaching and other related, comprehensive training programs.

This survey was commissioned and administered by Deputy™ via an online survey (through survey software Typeform) to North American businesses with hourly employees. The survey was sent to businesses ranging from 3 to 1,455 employees and ran from June 22nd, 2017 to July 7th, 2017. Responses were segmented by industry.

How can Deputy help retail businesses with employee scheduling & time tracking? See how these clients use Deputy:

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Important Notice The information contained in this article is general in nature and you should consider whether the information is appropriate to your needs. Legal and other matters referred to in this article are of a general nature only and are based on Deputy's interpretation of laws existing at the time and should not be relied on in place of professional advice. Deputy is not responsible for the content of any site owned by a third party that may be linked to this article and no warranty is made by us concerning the suitability, accuracy or timeliness of the content of any site that may be linked to this article. Deputy disclaims all liability (except for any liability which by law cannot be excluded) for any error, inaccuracy, or omission from the information contained in this article and any loss or damage suffered by any person directly or indirectly through relying on this information.

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March 02, 2018

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dan Westmoreland As Director of Inbound Marketing, Dan handles all things PR, content, SEO, and marketing campaigns for Deputy Americas. He also brings 10+ years of experience in B2B technology and SaaS to the team. Dan provides marketing thought leadership as a contributor at Business 2 Community. In his free time, he loves supporting Atlanta sports teams and hanging out with his kiddos.